Photograph: North Central head football coach Jacob Carruth is recognized by St. Landry Parish School District officials for being named a Coach of The Week recently by the Louisiana High School Coaches Association.
BOBBY ARDOIN
Editor/Consulting Writer
St. Edmund freshman running back Kevon Johnson maintained his assault on opposing defenses Friday night as he continued to perform among the state’s elite rushers.
Johnson ran for 225 yards and four touchdowns as the Blue Jays opened district with a 49-8 victory that ended a three-game North Central High winning streak.
The rushing totals for Johnson against North Central elevated him to 1,148 yards for the season. Johnson, who has a 9.2 yard-per-carry average, has scored 13 touchdowns for St. Edmund (3-2).
“(Johnson) is just a special kid, He likes playing football and getting good grades. He is the fastest in school history to reach 1,000 yards rushing. We have a young team with a lot of freshman and sophomore starters and (Johnson) is one of the highlights,” said St. Edmund head football coach James Shiver.
North Central (3-3, 0-1), was limited to minus three rushing yards and another 147 passing.
Shiver said the defensive game plan for the Hurricanes was to target the athleticism of North Central quarterback Craig Malveaux and play defense against the pass.
“We noticed (Malveaux) got a lot of yardage with his running ability, so we mirrored him by trying to keep him inside the pocket and play defense against their two good receivers,” Shiver said.
Malveaux completed 11-of-19 passes. He fumbled four times and lost one.
North Central converted only two of 10 third down conversion opportunities.
Overall the Hurricanes fumbled on six occasions and failed to recover all but two.
St. Edmund rushed 43 times for 429 yards, as the Jays compiled 504 total offensive yards.
Two first quarter touchdowns by Johnson and Blake Summerlin (11 carries, 170 yards), enabled the SEHS to take a 14-0 lead.
In the second period Johnson broke loose on runs of one and 19 yards, give the Jays a 27-0 halftime lead.
Johnson and Summerlin scored again in the third period, extending the lead to 42-0, before a 15-yard fourth quarter pass from Malveaux to Kayshaun Robert ended a five-play, 54-yard drive.
Devion Lavergne caught four passes for 36 yards, while Robert grabbed another four throws for 33.
What’s next? North Central visits Westminster Christian. St. Edmund is also home for a district game against Sacred Heart.
